Thursday, June 17, 2010

More Ruminations on the World Cup

UPDATE: Hilarious feedback from JK re: this post: "Not sure which is more surprising – how young we all look in those pics or chaps deep insight on the impact altitude can have on a soccer match."

This morning Greece recorded its first ever World Cup victory, 2-1 over Nigeria. Now if they could just sort out their banking system.

Here's some follow-up from Chappy with possible explanations for the lack of goals during Week One:

I can't believe I forgot the other two major reasons for the games being low scoring:

1 - The BALL!!!!! Everyone is complaining about it. Adidas has made a special ball for the Cup. It is called the "Jabulani" which means celebrate in Zulu. The players are having a hard time controlling it on free, corner and directional kicks. As of right now there hasn't been a goal scored on a free kick. The goalies complain that the ball swerves in the air too much. Still the ball is no excuse for that goal that Robert Green let in.

2 - Altitude- some of the games are being played at fairly high altitude. This really does make a difference on how much players can run and can lead to a boring defensive game.

448. Can the make of a ball -- or other equipment -- actually influence the style of play? Do NFL field goal kickers ever blame the ball when they shank kicks?

449. Is Robert Green starting in England's game tomorrow? Any chance he redeems himself, or has he been permanently enshrined as the British Bill Buckner?